Montezuma Local News interviews Rebecca Samulski, independent candidate for Montezuma County Commissioner in District 3. Joel Stevenson, Republican opponent, did not respond to our requests for an interview.
LIFELONG MONTEZUMA COUNTY RESIDENT REBECCA SAMULSKI WOULD LIKE TO SEE RESIDENTS BUILD A SHARED VISION FOR THE FUTURE TO GUIDE GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND THAT'S WHY SHE'S RUNNING AS AN UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATE FOR THE DISTRICT SEAT ON THE COUNTY COMMISSION.YOU'RE WATCHING THE LOCAL NEWS NETWORK, I'M WENDY GRAHAM SETTLE.REBECCA SAMULSKI, THE UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATE RUNNING FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER AGAINST REPUBLICAN JOEL STEVENSON, IS NO NEWCOMER TO MONTEZUMA COUNTY.HER PARENTS, SUE AND EVERETT WHITEHEAD, MOVED TO THE AREA WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE MORE THAN 12 MONTHS OLD, AND SHE GREW UP AT MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, WHERE HER FATHER WAS A PARK RANGER.SHE GRADUATED FROM MONTEZUMA CORTEZ HIGH SCHOOL, OBTAINED HER DEGREE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AT FORT LEWIS COLLEGE, AND RETURNED HOME TO WORK IN THE MONTEZUMA COUNTY, TOWN OF MANCOS AND CITY OF CORTEZ PLANNING DEPARTMENTS.SHE FACILITATED AND DEVELOPED THE CORTEZ VISION 2020 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.FOR THE PAST NINE YEARS, SHE'S WORKED WITH COMMUNITY COALITIONS TO ADDRESS WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS, AND FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, SHE'S SERVED AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE STATE FIRE ADAPTED COLORADO NETWORK.THAT WORK, SHE SAYS, TAUGHT HER THE VALUE OF FINDING COMMON GROUND AND BUILDING A SHARED VISION TO GUIDE POLICY- AND DECISION-MAKING FOR THE FUTURE.AND SHE'D LIKE TO ENGAGE MONTEZUMA COUNTY IN A SIMILAR PROCESS TO DEVELOP A NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN THAT WILL HELP THE COUNTY ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES IT FACES FROM POPULATION GROWTH AND A CHANGING ECONOMY.THE COUNTY'S EXISTING PLAN IS 25 YEARS OLD, AND SHE SAYS, IS JUST SITTING ON A SHELF COLLECTING DUST.
I'VE REALLY ENJOYED THE FACILITATION AND THE ABILITY TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND FIND COMMON GROUND AND COME UP WITH BETTER SOLUTIONS THAN ANY ONE OF US WOULD HAVE COME UP WITH ON OUR OWN. THAT'S WHAT DROVE ME INTO THE WILDFIRE-PREPAREDNESS WORK THAT I DO NOW. IT WAS REALLY THAT INTEREST IN THE COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS AND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT THE FIREWISE OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO, NOW WILDFIRE ADAPTED PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM HERE, BRINGS TO THE TABLE. IT'S REALLY ABOUT BRINGING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER AROUND THIS COMMON RISK OF WILDFIRE. AND I REALLY ENJOY THAT. I THINK AS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT POSITION. IT'S NOT A FACILITATIVE ROLE, GENERALLY. IT'S THIS COMES TO YOU AND YOU NEED TO MAKE A DECISION. BUT I THINK THAT THREE PEOPLE MAKING THE DECISION FOR 27,000 PEOPLE WITHOUT REALLY HEARING AND ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY, WE CAN SEE WHERE THAT'S GOTTEN US, AND I AM NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THE STATUS QUO IN TERMS OF POLICIES BEING A, OH, TWO TO ONE, YOU KNOW, WIN-LOSE SITUATIONS ALL THE TIME. I WOULD LIKE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO, IF SOMETHING ISN'T WORKING FOR SOMEBODY, IS THERE A WAY THAT WE CAN GET IT TO THAT BETTER PLACE, WHERE IT WORKS FOR MORE OF US AND WORKS BETTER FOR US AS A COMMUNITY? SO, I THINK THAT'S HOW I'LL BRING THAT INTO THE ROLE OF COUNTY COMMISSIONER. SAMULSKI SAYS SHE ALSO WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE COUNTY BECOME MORE ENGAGED IN REGIONWIDE COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS AFTER THE COMMISSIONERS FOUR YEARS AGO DISBANDED THE MONTEZUMA COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL AND ITS EFFORTS TO SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS GROWTH AND BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT.I ALSO KNOW THAT A HEALTHY ECONOMY IS CRITICAL TO, TO OUR ENTIRE WAY OF LIFE HERE. YOU KNOW, GETTING PEOPLE BACK IN JOBS, AND GETTING MONEY COMING IN FROM OUTSIDE OF THE COMMUNITY IS HUGELY IMPORTANT. SO, I WANT TO BE ENGAGED AND ALREADY HAVE STAYED ENGAGED OVER THE YEARS, EVEN WHILE I'VE BEEN DOING WILDFIRE WORK, IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WORK IN THE COMMUNITY. SO, I'M EXCITED ABOUT THE TRI-CHAMBER'S EFFORTS THAT, THAT'S HAPPENING HERE AGAIN, AND SOME OF THE BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE EFFORTS THAT ARE HAPPENING, AND I WANT THE COUNTY TO BE AN ENGAGED PARTNER IN THOSE.
SAMULSKI AND HER HUSBAND, JOE, LIVE SOUTH OF SUMMIT RIDGE. THEY HAVE TWO CHILDREN TOGETHER.SAMULSKI'S OPPONENT, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE JOEL STEVENSON, DID NOT RESPOND TO SEVERAL REQUESTS FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH THE LOCAL NEW NETWORK. IF YOU'D LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SAMULSKI'S CANDIDACY, VISIT SAMULSKI 4 MONTEZUMA DOT COM. THANKS FOR WATCHING THE LOCAL NEWS NETWORK. LISTEN TO OUR NEWS STORIES ON YOUR FAVORITEPODCASTAPP, ANYTIME ANYWHERE! I’M WENDY GRAHAM SETTLE.
